Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

One of Zimbabwe’s biggest financial institutions, CBZ Holdings says it is looking at ways it could “leverage cryptocurrencies and other emerging digital innovations.” According to the financial institution’s chairperson, Marc Holtzman, CBZ “is open-minded about new innovations, as these could open up new opportunities going forward.” Innovations Opening up New Markets Speaking in an interview with a local publication, Holtzman also acknowledges that innovations such as “cryptocurrencies, or rather blockchain more broadly, fintechs, bigtechs and techfins” are all serving “specific gaps.” Revealing his organization’s stance on such innovations, the chairman said: Our view is that these innovations have the potential to strengthen the way we do business, the way we serve our customers, as well as open up new market opportunities. Holtzman adds that such opportunities “can be pursued through collaboration and cooperation with the same fintechs.” Consequently, the chairperson says C...

Known for his reluctant stance on decentralized money, the Governor of Bank of England (BOA), Andrew Bailey, has recently taken his anti-crypto rhetoric up a notch. Speaking at a meeting with lawmakers in London, Bailey stated that cryptocurrencies are “dangerous.” Andrew Bailey Remains Sceptical About Cryptos “Crypto-assets,” as the central bank’s official labels bitcoin and the rest, present a danger to the public, Bailey told the British Parliament’s Treasury Committee. The Governor’s statement on Monday reiterates his long-standing concern about decentralized digital currencies, Reuters noted in a report . Addressing the committee members, the head of Bank of England said: I’m sceptical about crypto-assets, frankly, because they’re dangerous and there’s a huge enthusiasm out there. Andrew Bailey’s latest criticism comes after previous statements revealing his negative attitude towards cryptocurrencies. The governor has in the past warned ordinary Brits they should not invest...

Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz doubts the future of dogecoin. The billionaire investor said that “It likely doesn’t have long-term legs because no institution is buying it and at some point, retail will lose interest.” Novogratz Says Dogecoin ‘Doesn’t Have Long-Term Legs’ Michael Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd., recently discussed with Goldman Sachs the potential for cryptocurrencies, including dogecoin, and their ability to transform the financial system and beyond. His comments are published in a Goldman Sachs report entitled “Crypto: A New Asset Class?” which was published on May 21. Novogratz was asked: “What do you make about the rise of dogecoin and other meme coins?” The CEO replied: Dogecoin is a very speculative asset, much more so than bitcoin. It likely doesn’t have long-term legs because no institution is buying it and at some point, retail will lose interest. The Galaxy Digital executive explained that “dogecoin started as a joke and grew for two ...

Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, has predicted that a flood of institutional money will flow into bitcoin once miners have addressed the renewable energy and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. He said the flood will begin when bitcoin meets the ESG standards which will allow institutional investors to get into the asset class. O’Leary Predicts Soaring Institutional Demand for Bitcoin After Miners Solve ESG Issues Kevin O’Leary has reiterated his concerns about bitcoin’s sustainability and the importance of the cryptocurrency meeting institutions’ ESG standards during a webcast at the Consensus 2021 convention Monday. ESG refers to the three central factors in measuring the sustainability and societal impact of an investment in a company or business: environmental, social, and corporate governance. The Shark Tank star emphasized that institutional investors are still interested in bitcoin despite the recent sell-off. Currently, less than 1% of insti...

Investment bank Goldman Sachs says institutional investors and asset managers are driven to bitcoin by “fear of missing out” (FOMO). Goldman now considers bitcoin a new asset class. Nonetheless, institutional investors are facing several strong barriers to entry into the crypto market. Asset Managers, Institutions Facing Crypto FOMO Goldman Sachs said Monday that the fear of missing out (FOMO) on potential gains from cryptocurrencies among investors has pushed crypto prices higher over the past year. Mathew McDermott, Goldman Sachs’ global head of digital assets, said in a note to clients: There’s no doubt that ‘fear of missing out’ (FOMO) is playing a role given how much bitcoin and other crypto assets have appreciated and how many interested parties of all flavors have jumped into this space. While liquidity has increased in the crypto market recently, the analyst said “it’s still difficult for institutions to gain access to the market, which remains quite fragmented.” He con...

Since well before the onset of Covid-19, the U.S. Federal Reserve had initiated monetary easing policies and from then on, the M1 Money Stock supply skyrocketed to levels never-before-seen in history. This weekend reports disclosed that the Fed has started to taper quantitative easing (QE) when it removed $351 billion from the market last week. This Tuesday the Fed revealed it completed a reverse repo operation for $432.9 billion. On May 22, Bitcoin.com News reported on the Federal Reserve initiating overnight reverse repos (RRP) to the tune of $351 billion. Tuesday’s recently reported reverse repo shows a 23.07% increase. RRP facility operations are the opposite of QE, as the Federal Reserve removes M1 from the system by selling Treasuries back to the market. The most recent overnight operations seem to be only Treasuries, as no purchases of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) have been mentioned. The Federal Reserve followed the $351 billion RRP operation with $369 billion on...

PRESS RELEASE. Realm, a new NFT microverse platform, has closed its first investment round at $2.25M led by Alphabit with strategic investments from NGC, Genesis Block Ventures, LD Capital, Moonrock, and SL2 amongst other funds. Realm aims to challenge the current NFT platforms by offering creators and players a personalised metaverse aptly dubbed a “microverse”. Each microverse, known as a realm, will come with an original genetically coded blockchain avatar. The NFT platform integrates OpenSea’s vast NFT marketplace, and has partnered with Reef Chain to harness the power of Substrate and the Polkadot framework to ensure cross-chain compatibility. “We’ve been working on how the metaverse will blur the lines between digital and virtual realities for six months. We’re excited to have some world class investors on board who align with our vision of making everybody the master of their own realm,” said Matthew Larby, Realm CEO and Founder. “Alphabit has made a seed stage investment in...

After bitcoin prices dipped to a low of $30,066 per unit last week, lots of people have been focused on the panic sellers. Meanwhile, when bitcoin prices plunged, the number of bitcoin addresses in accumulation tapped an all-time high at 545,115 addresses. Number of Bitcoin Accumulation Addresses Hit New Highs Bitcoin ( BTC ) prices slid from a $64,895 per unit high to a low of $30,066 per bitcoin in 30 days losing more than 53% in value. When the price plunge took place data from Glassnode’s bitcoin “accumulation addresses” spiked . The number of bitcoin addresses in accumulation shows fundamental strength signals and gives investors a perspective of long-term holders. Glassnode’s data reflects addresses with little to no incoming transactions, as opposed to addresses that are more active. Nine months ago, Glassnode reported on accumulation addresses reaching the 500k mark. “There are over 500,000 Bitcoin ‘accumulation addresses’ holding a total of 2.6 million BTC (~14%). Accu...

On Monday, the crypto asset fund manager One River filed a unique bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to the Form S-1 filed, One River wants to list a carbon-neutral bitcoin ETF on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). One River’s Bitcoin ETF Aims to Provide a Fund That Offsets Carbon Emissions Associated With Bitcoin Mining Carbon-neutral bitcoin mining has been a topical conversation these days within the cryptocurrency community. One River is taking bitcoin funds to a different level by registering for a carbon-neutral bitcoin ETF with its partner the carbon credit platform MOSS . The CEO of MOSS Luis Felipe Adaime detailed in April that the “MOSS Carbon Neutral Custody allows any institutional or corporate investor a means to offset the carbon emissions associated with crypto assets.” On May 24, 2021, One River filed a Form S-1 registration with the SEC in order to disclose the company’s prospectus sum...

Investment banks JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs have initiated coverage of the Coinbase Global stock. JPMorgan gives Coinbase an overweight rating with a 60% upside potential while Goldman Sachs begins with a buy rating. JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs Now Covering Coinbase Stock A couple of major investment banks initiated coverage of the Coinbase Global stock (NASDAQ: COIN) this week. At the time of writing the price of COIN Is $233.99. JPMorgan initiated coverage of Coinbase on Tuesday with an overweight rating largely due to the company’s key position in the growing cryptocurrency space, analyst Kenneth Worthington explained. The firm sets the target price for Coinbase at $371, a 59% increase from the current level. The analyst detailed: We see the cryptomarkets as durable and growing, and expect Coinbase has the opportunity to influence and benefit from this market growth as it innovates. Another investment bank, Goldman Sachs, initiated coverage of the Coinbase Global stock on Monday...

After Tesla’s Elon Musk and Microstrategy CEO Micheal Saylor revealed the revelation of a newly created “Bitcoin Mining Council,” the news became a viral subject. While some crypto supporters like the idea, others have been skeptical of a couple of billionaires having closed-door meetings with North American bitcoin miners. Bitcoin Mining Council Brings Back Memories of Notorious Hong Kong and New York Agreements On Monday, Elon Musk told his Twitter followers that he recently spoke with North American bitcoin miners, as he said they are “committed” to working toward using renewable energy sources. Following Musk’s statement, Microstrategy’s CEO Micheal Saylor said he hosted the meeting between Musk and the “leading bitcoin miners in North America.” Saylor further revealed some of the mining participants that have joined the “Bitcoin Mining Council.” Hi I'm new to bitcoin And I'm here to fix it – @michael_saylor – @elonmusk We've been here and got the t-shirt fe...

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Uganda’s Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA) says it wants the country’s Finance Ministry to help formulate a regulatory framework for crypto service providers. According to the FIA, this call for the government’s intervention has prompted by the Ugandan crypto industry’s failure to comply with an earlier plea for industry players to register. Terrorism Concerns Furthermore, in a recent report —which quotes Sydney Asubo the FIA executive director—the financial intelligence body explains why it wants the Ugandan government’s involvement in crafting the regulation. The report states: Virtual assets service providers are now in category 16 of the most vulnerable to terrorism financing and money laundering. Last year we gave them one month to register but only a few responded. In December 2020, the FIA published a letter revealing an amendment to the Anti-Money Laundering Act which classed Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) “as accountable persons.” This, therefore, meant en...

The payment industry has gone through a revolution in the last few years. Among its most evident examples are international commerce and remote work. Blockchain and cryptocurrency have transformed online transactions by ensuring true ownership, security, speed, accessibility, and inclusivity. Nowadays, people are used to buying something and paying seamlessly, or receiving compensation through a mobile device or a computer. Going cashless became the norm and convenience turned out to be essential, especially because of the COVID-19 impact. As the demand increased, crypto payments became an ideal alternative — whether you are working from home or you want to buy from an e-commerce shop during the wee hours. RemiBit is one of the solutions that offers the most comprehensive range of crypto payment services. It is a non-custodial blockchain payment system that can be integrated and rolled in just a few minutes. A truly hassle-free crypto payment experience! With RemiBit’s peer-to-pee...

Digital currencies, those issued by central banks in particular, have been commended for their “disruptive nature.” The praise comes from a publication associated with one of Brazil’s far-left parties. A recently published article claims that CBDCs such as China’s digital yuan can radically change global finances and government policies. Digital Yuan to Do Away With America’s ‘Exorbitant Privilege’ Vermelho, a news portal linked to the Communist Party of Brazil, points out that the People’s Republic is the world’s first major economy to create its own coin. State-issued digital currencies are not like the present day “electronic money” as they won’t require the intermediation of commercial banks, the leftist outlet argues. The central bank itself will perform this role, unlike “private” cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin where no authority can oversee transactions or control circulation. Central bank digital currencies ( CBDCs ) will provide for an immediate relationship between the...

South Korea’s monetary policy regulator is taking steps to create its own digital coin. Bank of Korea is now looking for a technology provider to develop a test environment for the project. The news comes after major commercial banks expressed skepticism over their cooperation with domestic cryptocurrency exchanges. Central Bank of Korea to Launch Pilot Platform for CBDC The tech supplier will be chosen through an open bidding process, Bank of Korea ( BOK ) announced Monday. Its task will be to set up a pilot platform for the launch of the South Korean central bank digital currency (CBDC). A Reuters report notes that the bank’s plan to research the matter and conduct trials is the first step in that direction taken by Asia’s fourth-largest economy. With the expansion of the cryptocurrency space providing an alternative to traditional finances, dozens of central banks around the world have set CBDC projects in motion. China has been developing its digital yuan , the Federal Reserve ...